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It is formulated as a contract in which the witnesses report that on such and such a date, in such and such a place, this groom married that bride and assumed his obligations.
To reinforce the seriousness of the commitment the groom is undertaking, it is customary before the badeken for him to symbolically acquire his obligations, using a standard procedure of halakhic acquisition. The rabbi, acting as the bride's agent, hands over an item (usually a handkerchief or a pen) to the groom. In exchange for this, the rabbi symbolically acquires – on the bride's behalf – all the rights expressed in her ketuba. The witnesses then sign the ketuba. In Israel, it is customary for the groom to sign it as well. In Israel a copy of the ketuba, which the witnesses and groom sign, is later deposited with the Rabbinate as a backup.
Because the text of the ketuba was drafted over two thousand years ago, it is in Aramaic, which was the language most Jews spoke at the time. Ideally, the bride and groom should understand the obligations set out in the ketuba. It is customary for the rabbi or another honorable guest to read the ketuba (or part of it) out loud under the ĥuppa, to impress upon the groom the seriousness of the commitment he is undertaking. Nevertheless, many do not read aloud the precise amount the groom has agreed to pay (in the event of death or divorce), because that is private.
The groom then hands the signed ketuba to the bride. She needs to make sure to keep it somewhere safe (such as her home or her parents’ home).
